ACCEL Program Admission

The ACCEL program is a state-funded dual enrollment program administered by the Georgia Student Finance Commission (GSFC). This program provides eligible juniors and seniors enrolled at public or private eligible high schools in Georgia the opportunity to earn college degree-level credit as they meet their high school graduation requirements.

To be eligible for ACCEL funds, high school students must enroll in associate degree-level courses approved by the Georgia Department of Education in the areas of the core graduation requirements for college preparatory students (English, mathematics, social studies, and science). The list of eligible courses is available at www.GAcollege411.org. Georgia residency and U.S. citizenship requirements for HOPE program eligibility apply to ACCEL award eligibility. The director of admissions or designee will determine the residency and citizenship eligibility of ACCEL participants. ACCEL applicants must also be in compliance with Selective Service registration requirements.

ACCEL applicants must complete the following steps in order to participate in this program:

• Adhere to the ACCEL guidelines as developed by the Georgia Student Finance Commission.
• Choose courses approved by the Georgia Department of Education (as listed at www.GAcollege411.org).
• Be at least 16 years old and classified as either a junior or senior pursuing a diploma from an eligible public or private high school in Georgia.
• Submit a letter of recommendation from one of their high school counselors.
• Review the ACCEL Enrollment Agreement to Participate and submit a completed ACCEL Enrollment Acknowledgment form with signatures of applicants, their parents/guardians, and their high school counselor.
• Complete, sign, and submit an application for admission.
• Submit official COMPASS, ASSET, SAT, or ACT test scores.

Applicants must gain regular admission status for associate degree-level coursework to participate in the ACCEL program. Applicants whose test scores place them in learning support coursework are not eligible for ACCEL. After gaining admission to Athens Technical College, high school students must complete the New Student Orientation. ACCEL students must complete the orientation before they will be eligible to register for their first semester at the college.

The ACCEL program pays for tuition for eligible students, but no longer pays for fees or books. Degree-level college credits attempted by ACCEL students while in high school will not be included in the quarter or semester hours used to determine when students have reached the maximum number of hours for which they can receive payment from any combination of the HOPE Scholarship, HOPE Grant, and ACCEL programs provided the students met the academic requirements to be a HOPE Scholar when they graduated from high school and were, therefore, eligible to receive the HOPE Scholarship as entering first-year students. Furthermore, the attempted hours will not be included in the hours used to determine the maximum hours for which they can receive HOPE benefits if ACCEL students did not meet the requirements to be a HOPE Scholar when they graduated from high school and were, therefore, ineligible to receive the HOPE Scholarship as entering first-year students (see ACCEL Guidelines on the www.gacollege411.org website).

Transportation and other expenses are the responsibility of the students. Students are responsible for items that are not covered by the ACCEL program, including all fees, books, supplies, and equipment. It is mandatory that students purchase the books, supplies, and equipment required by the college instructor.

The ACCEL Program Application for Financial Aid must be completed online and renewed each semester high school students wish to enroll in ACCEL courses at Athens Technical College. The application is available online at www.gacollege411.org. Select Applications and Transcripts and then ACCEL Program in the right-hand column. The application has three parts:

• Part 1 to be completed by the student and the parent or guardian (Financial aid staff uses this section to check general information and basic requirements for ACCEL and state financial aid).
• Part 2 to be completed by the student's high school counselor (This section is used to confirm that the student will be given high school credit for specific postsecondary courses).
• Part 3 to be completed by the financial aid staff at the college (The staff uses this section to confirm that the student is enrolled in the courses approved by the high school in Part 2).

Students must list all courses that they plan to enroll in for that particular semester. If any part of the online application is incomplete, wrong, or invalid, the financial aid staff will reject the application. Once an application is rejected, students must complete and submit the application again.